[PetroniusMaximus]

The instant they mentioned a 3 mile spread of debris, all my questions were answered.

[roses of sharon]

Has anyone heard if any passengers contacted loved ones?

[b4its2late]

Mine too though I suspected it from the very first time I heard the weather theory.

[colorado tanker]

There must have been some kind of explosion or catastrophic break up. But no one is claiming “credit” for this. Hmmm.

[r9etb]

The instant they mentioned a 3 mile spread of debris, all my questions were answered.

By which, I presume, you mean to imply it was terrorism.

As for me, I could see that sort of spread taking place as a result of the fact that the plane was at 35k feet, in a line of severe thunderstorms.

The breakup can be explained by the turbulence reported by the pilots; the spread of debris can be explained by altitude, speed, and stuff getting caught in updrafts.

The string of automated failure messages was spread over several minutes, which seems more consistent with an explanation of gradual structural failure.

[Churchillspirit]

The instant they mentioned a 3 mile spread of debris, all my questions were answered.

I have no idea what is a normal distance of a debris field is when a plane explodes in midair, but when PAN-AM 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, debris was found as far away as Keilder Forest in Northumberland - more than 60 miles away.

RIP the victims of this Air France disaster.

[BunnySlippers]

Uh, debris was spread over 140 miles ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOegnahAFcEgwJZ4WKGkVz9Dgq5wD98JG00G0